1 00:00:00,520 --> 00:00:02,160 Speaker 1: Previously on Hello John Doe. 2 00:00:05,240 --> 00:00:07,240 Speaker 2: So we had the missing person case and name of 3 00:00:07,280 --> 00:00:08,840 Speaker 2: says phill at Brandenburg. 4 00:00:09,119 --> 00:00:11,520 Speaker 3: Nobody knew if this missing infant was a live or dead. 5 00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:15,480 Speaker 3: The FBI had no paperwork on him, but I didn't 6 00:00:15,480 --> 00:00:19,119 Speaker 3: want to give up on looking for him. For fifteen years, 7 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:22,840 Speaker 3: I continue my work investigating missing and unidentified people with 8 00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:25,959 Speaker 3: the Department of Justice, but I always wondered about the 9 00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:30,160 Speaker 3: fate of those missing voice until one day in twenty nineteen, 10 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:33,240 Speaker 3: a man called me claiming that he was actually one 11 00:00:33,240 --> 00:00:37,599 Speaker 3: of them. 12 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:37,560 Speaker 4: And I told him I slept in our conversation. I said, 13 00:00:37,560 --> 00:00:39,000 Speaker 4: you don't have to believe this. I said, I don't 14 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:43,080 Speaker 4: blame you if you don't believe it, because this sounds crazy. 15 00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:45,920 Speaker 4: And I started explaining. He took the time to listen. 16 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:48,440 Speaker 1: He said he was a missing infant. 17 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:51,159 Speaker 3: But now had to figure out if this was actually true, 18 00:00:51,720 --> 00:00:54,560 Speaker 3: and if so, how on earth had he gotten away 19 00:00:54,560 --> 00:01:02,040 Speaker 3: from a serial killer. After that phone call in twenty nineteen, 20 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:04,479 Speaker 3: I had to prove that this man was actually who 21 00:01:04,520 --> 00:01:07,160 Speaker 3: he said he was. I have my work cut out 22 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:09,720 Speaker 3: for me. The man who'd called went by the name 23 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:12,720 Speaker 3: Steve Patterson, and it grown up in Charyble, North Carolina, 24 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:16,080 Speaker 3: not so far away from me. But the person he 25 00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:18,520 Speaker 3: thought he was, the guy with the profile on the 26 00:01:18,520 --> 00:01:22,560 Speaker 3: DOE network, that was Philip Stephen Brandenburgh. He had last 27 00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:26,200 Speaker 3: been seen in Texas, not North Carolina. Could these two 28 00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:28,640 Speaker 3: be one and the same. I hoped in my heart 29 00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:32,679 Speaker 3: he was, but there's good reason to be skeptical. I 30 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:35,680 Speaker 3: called up my friend Mike Nance, my coworker from NAMOS, 31 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:38,840 Speaker 3: that's the national database run by the federal government. I 32 00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:41,679 Speaker 3: asked Mike to put step into NAMOS because it might 33 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:44,520 Speaker 3: help match him with the person that he thought he was. 34 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:49,680 Speaker 2: Throughout my tenure with NAMOS that we've had similar situations where, 35 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:54,000 Speaker 2: for whatever reason, someone has contacted NamUs as an adult, 36 00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:58,800 Speaker 2: believing that they are a missing child from some agency, 37 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:03,040 Speaker 2: some jurisdiction. So I don't know why if they believe that. 38 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:07,160 Speaker 3: I totally get that those of us in this business 39 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:09,760 Speaker 3: have all hit dead ends, or rather we've hit the 40 00:02:09,760 --> 00:02:13,640 Speaker 3: wrong ends. We're all chasing hope that sometimes gets us nowhere. 41 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:16,640 Speaker 3: You exam a body that ends up being the wrong person. 42 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:20,760 Speaker 3: Someone vanishes and has never found Disk on the phone 43 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:23,000 Speaker 3: who said he was a Brandenburg could have been the 44 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:26,679 Speaker 3: same type of situation. He might be a liar who knows, 45 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:28,680 Speaker 3: or maybe he had it all wrong and he was 46 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:32,040 Speaker 3: another missing person, not the Brandenburg infant that I thought. 47 00:02:32,919 --> 00:02:35,240 Speaker 3: I've been exposed to my fair share of heartbreaking this 48 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:38,440 Speaker 3: line of work, but you know what, I've also been 49 00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:42,160 Speaker 3: in situations where hope one out where the impossible happened, 50 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:45,160 Speaker 3: even though it had no business going that way. So 51 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:48,640 Speaker 3: I chose to focus on what seems unbelievable but possible. 52 00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:51,799 Speaker 3: For twenty years, I've been wondering if the Brandenburg infant 53 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:54,320 Speaker 3: was alive or dead. Mike and I could wonder all 54 00:02:54,360 --> 00:02:56,799 Speaker 3: we wanted, but nothing would be more final than a 55 00:02:56,880 --> 00:03:02,200 Speaker 3: DNA test, and Steve was down to take it. Steve, 56 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:04,400 Speaker 3: the guy who claimed you was still at Brandenburg, was 57 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:06,400 Speaker 3: a little surprised at where he had to go for 58 00:03:06,440 --> 00:03:07,120 Speaker 3: the DNA. 59 00:03:06,919 --> 00:03:11,200 Speaker 4: Swap, the Cherito Police Department, of all places. 60 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:13,680 Speaker 3: I mean, it's not every day goes to hang out 61 00:03:13,720 --> 00:03:14,959 Speaker 3: at the local police department. 62 00:03:15,760 --> 00:03:18,160 Speaker 4: It was kind of funny because the guy that gave 63 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:20,240 Speaker 4: it to me is like, this is the first time 64 00:03:20,240 --> 00:03:24,560 Speaker 4: I've ever done this. I'm like same here, I said, 65 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:27,120 Speaker 4: I guess we're both gon be the first time and 66 00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:29,040 Speaker 4: gave a DNA test and the first time I've ever 67 00:03:29,080 --> 00:03:34,960 Speaker 4: taken one. We laughed about it. He just swapped it 68 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:36,680 Speaker 4: around in my mouth and put it in this little pack. 69 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:38,280 Speaker 4: I think he said it was going to send it 70 00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:38,880 Speaker 4: to Texas. 71 00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:42,640 Speaker 3: Yeah, the University of North Texas processed it. That's where 72 00:03:42,680 --> 00:03:45,040 Speaker 3: NAMES was located at the time. It's where all the 73 00:03:45,080 --> 00:03:49,440 Speaker 3: DNA went. We all waited several months, seemed like years. 74 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:53,160 Speaker 3: Steve and I had all these phone conversations around that time. 75 00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:55,960 Speaker 3: They were used the kind of short Steve wasn't a 76 00:03:55,960 --> 00:03:58,960 Speaker 3: big talker like me. I was introducing him to tools 77 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:02,160 Speaker 3: like ancestor dot Com, showing him what all was possible. 78 00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:10,680 Speaker 3: I didn't really know it then, but Steve had taking 79 00:04:10,720 --> 00:04:13,360 Speaker 3: a liking to me. I think it had something to 80 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:15,280 Speaker 3: do with the fact that I'd taken the time to 81 00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:19,120 Speaker 3: search for the missing Brandenburg infant for years. If you 82 00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:21,240 Speaker 3: ask me, I think Steve has always had a feeling 83 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:25,920 Speaker 3: of not being wanting. He felt like he'd been thrown away. Well, 84 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:28,720 Speaker 3: we waited for the DNA tests come back. It dawned 85 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:31,440 Speaker 3: on me that if this guy wasn't Philip Brandenburg, I'd 86 00:04:31,440 --> 00:04:34,680 Speaker 3: be devastating. But I already made up my mind that 87 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:37,560 Speaker 3: even if he wasn't, I still wanted to help this guy, 88 00:04:37,880 --> 00:04:42,080 Speaker 3: whoever the hell he was always taking any astray anyway. 89 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:46,800 Speaker 3: Then one day my nance gave me the definitive phone call. 90 00:04:47,640 --> 00:04:51,239 Speaker 2: We were able to make the familial identification and determined 91 00:04:51,279 --> 00:04:53,640 Speaker 2: that yes, this is Philip Brandenburgh. 92 00:04:55,160 --> 00:04:59,480 Speaker 3: Steve Patterson was Philip Stephen Brandenburg, this once non existent 93 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:00,920 Speaker 3: person somehow alive. 94 00:05:01,640 --> 00:05:02,560 Speaker 1: I couldn't believe it. 95 00:05:03,279 --> 00:05:05,599 Speaker 2: He's really a real person and he was really born. 96 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:09,800 Speaker 2: And it was just such an amazing feeling. Just so 97 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:12,960 Speaker 2: many different dynamics that go into these cases, and you 98 00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:15,160 Speaker 2: just wonder what's going to be the next chapter and 99 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:17,799 Speaker 2: this incredible story of this family. 100 00:05:18,720 --> 00:05:20,919 Speaker 3: I'd waited almost twenty years for him to find my 101 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:24,839 Speaker 3: message in a bottle. Even Mike, the season detective that 102 00:05:24,920 --> 00:05:26,320 Speaker 3: he is, was shocked. 103 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:29,359 Speaker 2: I guess you just have to understand maybe the mindset 104 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:32,520 Speaker 2: of the homeleside detective, because you see stuff every day 105 00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:35,240 Speaker 2: that you think, you know, this is the craziest thing 106 00:05:35,279 --> 00:05:39,479 Speaker 2: I've ever seen, and this possibly can't can't be true, 107 00:05:39,520 --> 00:05:43,279 Speaker 2: But then you do your investigation, and sure enough it's true. 108 00:05:43,279 --> 00:05:45,600 Speaker 1: That for the man in the center of it, It 109 00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:46,720 Speaker 1: wasn't a surprise at all. 110 00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:52,000 Speaker 4: I knew the whole time, just in my mind, in 111 00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:55,479 Speaker 4: my heart, I knew that the Tesla will come back positive. 112 00:05:56,240 --> 00:05:57,720 Speaker 4: Was no doubt about it. 113 00:05:57,880 --> 00:06:00,919 Speaker 1: You blew their minds, Yeah did You wasn't supposed to 114 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:01,640 Speaker 1: be here, but you were. 115 00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:03,120 Speaker 4: Yeah. 116 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:06,279 Speaker 3: This baby somehow escaped the grasp of Franklin Floyd, the 117 00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:10,000 Speaker 3: serial killer. So how did he do it? How did 118 00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:13,000 Speaker 3: he get away? I knew the answer had to be 119 00:06:13,040 --> 00:06:20,120 Speaker 3: in his name. Stephen was born a brandy Bird but 120 00:06:20,320 --> 00:06:23,440 Speaker 3: ended up as a Patterson. That's because he was adopted 121 00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:26,120 Speaker 3: before he could even crawl or speak. It was an 122 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:28,920 Speaker 3: informal adoption that seems to have taken place in a 123 00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:33,520 Speaker 3: trailer part without the usual paperwork, so formally connecting him 124 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:36,360 Speaker 3: to his birth mother would take some serious detective work. 125 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:43,640 Speaker 3: My name is Todd Matthews and this is Hello John Doe, 126 00:06:43,839 --> 00:06:46,159 Speaker 3: A sleuth, a family, and a serial killer. 127 00:06:46,520 --> 00:06:47,160 Speaker 1: The story of a. 128 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:49,880 Speaker 3: Family torn apart by a tragedy and my quest to 129 00:06:49,960 --> 00:06:58,960 Speaker 3: bring them back together. Chapter two, An unusual Adoption. Once 130 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:02,640 Speaker 3: I figured out Steve Patterson was Philip Stephen Brandenburg, I 131 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:05,440 Speaker 3: had a ton of questions, like how did he get adopted. 132 00:07:05,800 --> 00:07:07,960 Speaker 3: Why I had no one ever found him? And why 133 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:10,560 Speaker 3: did his biological parents give him up in the first place? 134 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:14,000 Speaker 3: Safe to say, he had a big question too. 135 00:07:14,680 --> 00:07:16,520 Speaker 4: I want to let him my real mama dad word. 136 00:07:17,680 --> 00:07:19,520 Speaker 3: It's not like there's a box of bones to hand 137 00:07:19,520 --> 00:07:21,440 Speaker 3: to someone the way there is when you idde a 138 00:07:21,440 --> 00:07:24,680 Speaker 3: dead body and find the family. A DNA test isn't 139 00:07:24,680 --> 00:07:26,880 Speaker 3: a bar code. You can't just scan it and name 140 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:30,880 Speaker 3: pops out. It's a lot more complicated. The DNA test 141 00:07:30,880 --> 00:07:33,520 Speaker 3: would tell us who he might match to genetically, but 142 00:07:33,560 --> 00:07:36,000 Speaker 3: we had to go looking for Steve's biological family too. 143 00:07:36,560 --> 00:07:39,800 Speaker 3: Here's some old fashioned reporting. We had to do it together. 144 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:42,720 Speaker 3: Part of the reason he trusted me is because I've 145 00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:44,080 Speaker 3: been searching for him all along. 146 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:48,080 Speaker 4: I think it's neat. I think it's cool somebody was. 147 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:52,760 Speaker 1: Looking his girlfriend Janet O'Connor. What should I all go down. 148 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:56,800 Speaker 5: He feels that you've been a blessing in his life. 149 00:07:57,520 --> 00:07:59,120 Speaker 3: But we couldn't go out into the world and get 150 00:07:59,160 --> 00:08:01,720 Speaker 3: answers immediately. There was a lot that had to line 151 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:04,320 Speaker 3: up for us to meet each other first. The pandemic 152 00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:07,520 Speaker 3: lockdowns kept us apart for a really long time. On 153 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:09,400 Speaker 3: the phone I tried to help him find some initial 154 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:11,960 Speaker 3: answers about who he was, but there was a lot 155 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:13,880 Speaker 3: I wanted to wait on until we could meet in person, 156 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:17,880 Speaker 3: talk man to man. So the week of Memorial Day weekend, 157 00:08:18,200 --> 00:08:21,680 Speaker 3: almost four years after he first called, I finally made 158 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:25,240 Speaker 3: the trip. I flew from Knoxville to Charlotte and met 159 00:08:25,280 --> 00:08:28,640 Speaker 3: my producer, Kate Michigan. We rented a car to meet 160 00:08:28,640 --> 00:08:31,760 Speaker 3: Steph near his hometown, about an hour west of Charlotte's. 161 00:08:33,880 --> 00:08:36,920 Speaker 3: So to complicate things even more, our hotel in Charlotte 162 00:08:36,920 --> 00:08:38,640 Speaker 3: had a water main late and kicked us out at 163 00:08:38,640 --> 00:08:42,520 Speaker 3: four am. 164 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:43,560 Speaker 1: What a nightmare. 165 00:08:44,280 --> 00:08:46,400 Speaker 3: We spent the next few hours at a waffle house, 166 00:08:46,720 --> 00:08:50,199 Speaker 3: watching the small North Carolina town wake up, eating waffles 167 00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:53,400 Speaker 3: and eggs, and obsessing over the day ahead, the questions 168 00:08:53,440 --> 00:08:56,760 Speaker 3: we'd ask, What would he be like in person? Would 169 00:08:56,760 --> 00:08:58,520 Speaker 3: we be able to answer the questions that he had 170 00:08:58,520 --> 00:09:02,680 Speaker 3: for us? It was an unexpected start to a unique day, 171 00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:05,720 Speaker 3: A rainy spring day, not human enough to be summer, 172 00:09:06,160 --> 00:09:08,360 Speaker 3: but it was clear it was going to downpour a minute. 173 00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:12,000 Speaker 3: I was nervous. I chewed up al my fingernails on 174 00:09:12,040 --> 00:09:12,880 Speaker 3: the way over. In the car. 175 00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:16,080 Speaker 1: Todd, how you doing and how are you feeling about Stephen. 176 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:18,280 Speaker 1: That's my producer, Kate. 177 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:22,360 Speaker 3: I think it's gonna have to be a man to man. 178 00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:24,640 Speaker 1: You look in my eyes. You know it's gonna be 179 00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:26,319 Speaker 1: kind of emotional. I know it. 180 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:29,480 Speaker 3: The things that I do, the things that I have 181 00:09:29,679 --> 00:09:33,080 Speaker 3: urged to do, is sometimes it just seems supernatural in 182 00:09:33,120 --> 00:09:36,960 Speaker 3: a way. It's just like I don't know really exactly 183 00:09:36,960 --> 00:09:39,439 Speaker 3: what drives it, but it sounds like you. 184 00:09:39,400 --> 00:09:41,320 Speaker 6: Do a lot of like you kind of have that 185 00:09:41,360 --> 00:09:43,000 Speaker 6: presence for like living people too. 186 00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:45,320 Speaker 1: I won't lie. 187 00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:47,920 Speaker 3: My job is taking me through so many different cases 188 00:09:47,960 --> 00:09:50,439 Speaker 3: over the years, but this time the stakes were higher 189 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:55,200 Speaker 3: than a Georgia mine. There's a weight on you when 190 00:09:55,200 --> 00:09:57,800 Speaker 3: you're trying to get someone answers. This was different than 191 00:09:57,840 --> 00:10:00,679 Speaker 3: finding someone's name. I was trying to figure out why 192 00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:05,199 Speaker 3: Steve's parents gave him up for adoption. It's traumatic. By then, 193 00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:07,040 Speaker 3: I'd work for name Us, but I'd come from the 194 00:10:07,040 --> 00:10:09,960 Speaker 3: Dough network, where investigating what was done in groups and 195 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:12,560 Speaker 3: family members helped solve and brainstorm new ways to help 196 00:10:12,559 --> 00:10:16,000 Speaker 3: find the missing. It was a community effort. I look 197 00:10:16,080 --> 00:10:18,920 Speaker 3: for Steve, I could prove it to him. I did 198 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:21,520 Speaker 3: care for you. You didn't know you were lost, but 199 00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:25,280 Speaker 3: I did, and now we would finally meet. 200 00:10:30,880 --> 00:10:32,440 Speaker 1: Today's kind of starts a journey for you. 201 00:10:33,679 --> 00:10:35,760 Speaker 3: I've got butterflies now because I feel like I'm going 202 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:38,120 Speaker 3: to meet somebody that has been a part. 203 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:39,600 Speaker 1: Of my life for a long period of time. 204 00:10:40,520 --> 00:10:42,520 Speaker 3: Do you think he feels the same way I do? 205 00:10:42,720 --> 00:10:46,040 Speaker 3: And I feel like in some ways I take the 206 00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:48,320 Speaker 3: place of somebody's missing out of his life, and I 207 00:10:48,320 --> 00:10:52,000 Speaker 3: think in some ways he's taken the place of somebody's missing. 208 00:10:51,800 --> 00:10:53,000 Speaker 1: Out of my life. 209 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:55,559 Speaker 3: He would have been close to the age of my 210 00:10:55,960 --> 00:10:58,640 Speaker 3: brother that has passed away, So it's and I'm not 211 00:10:58,720 --> 00:11:01,320 Speaker 3: replacing somebody with another person, but it's kind of nice 212 00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:02,680 Speaker 3: to have somebody in that spot. 213 00:11:04,480 --> 00:11:07,960 Speaker 1: You merge on to my south toward Gastonia. 214 00:11:08,080 --> 00:11:09,760 Speaker 3: I knew ahead of time this might be a hard 215 00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:13,400 Speaker 3: conversation that Steve had some complicated feelings about his past, 216 00:11:13,800 --> 00:11:17,559 Speaker 3: about his biological mom in particular. He told me before 217 00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:19,760 Speaker 3: that she threw him away like a piece of garbage. 218 00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:22,480 Speaker 3: And I said, maybe she put Moses in a basket. 219 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:24,560 Speaker 1: You never know. 220 00:11:24,640 --> 00:11:26,920 Speaker 3: I mean, it's I think she might have been trying 221 00:11:26,960 --> 00:11:28,840 Speaker 3: to save him and not just get rid of him. 222 00:11:29,480 --> 00:11:34,480 Speaker 1: No, I have butterflos. We're getting there, ain't we. So 223 00:11:34,520 --> 00:11:35,680 Speaker 1: we got to our meeting place. 224 00:11:36,200 --> 00:11:38,560 Speaker 3: We couldn't meet it Steve in his girlfriend's house because 225 00:11:38,600 --> 00:11:40,719 Speaker 3: they got these little dogs barking NonStop. 226 00:11:41,880 --> 00:11:44,280 Speaker 1: Kate went outside to get him. How long was I 227 00:11:44,360 --> 00:11:44,800 Speaker 1: driving here? 228 00:11:45,760 --> 00:11:47,960 Speaker 4: Oh? Tenes? 229 00:11:48,280 --> 00:11:50,600 Speaker 3: Okay, Oh yeah, we just got I stood in our 230 00:11:50,600 --> 00:11:52,960 Speaker 3: meeting room waiting for him to come in, my heart 231 00:11:53,040 --> 00:11:56,120 Speaker 3: jumping out of my chest. And when we finally met 232 00:11:56,200 --> 00:12:03,600 Speaker 3: face to face, it felt like a reunion. He was 233 00:12:03,679 --> 00:12:07,600 Speaker 3: exactly what I expected. He was about my height five seven, 234 00:12:07,880 --> 00:12:11,200 Speaker 3: wore a ball cap and a gray Vess glasses, salt 235 00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:14,439 Speaker 3: and pepper beer go tea kind of reminded me of 236 00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:17,760 Speaker 3: Kevin Bacon. We stood there face to face. 237 00:12:17,520 --> 00:12:17,960 Speaker 1: For a beat. 238 00:12:19,240 --> 00:12:20,600 Speaker 4: Where have you been all my life? Man? 239 00:12:22,440 --> 00:12:25,640 Speaker 3: We hugged and I could feel he was trembling. I 240 00:12:25,679 --> 00:12:26,760 Speaker 3: guess I kind of was too. 241 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:30,200 Speaker 1: You must be you're nervous. 242 00:12:30,360 --> 00:12:32,000 Speaker 4: Yeah, don't be nervous. 243 00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:34,520 Speaker 1: I can see your chin quivering. You're fine. 244 00:12:34,600 --> 00:12:35,280 Speaker 4: We're good. 245 00:12:36,559 --> 00:12:39,079 Speaker 1: I'm your big brother now, so you can do this. 246 00:12:39,559 --> 00:12:40,720 Speaker 4: It's not gonna be easy. 247 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:43,240 Speaker 1: There's gonna be some tough moments in it. 248 00:12:43,360 --> 00:12:46,520 Speaker 4: Steve, You're all right, Okay. 249 00:12:49,760 --> 00:12:53,400 Speaker 1: He came with this girlfriend, Jeanette the meeting. 250 00:12:53,360 --> 00:12:58,760 Speaker 5: Just I've been excited all week because he has just 251 00:12:58,840 --> 00:13:01,200 Speaker 5: been a savior for us. Had it not been for 252 00:13:01,280 --> 00:13:05,559 Speaker 5: you when you were going through what we were at 253 00:13:05,600 --> 00:13:08,880 Speaker 5: the time and not being able to find any help 254 00:13:09,040 --> 00:13:12,720 Speaker 5: or anyone that wants to And then Todd just like 255 00:13:12,920 --> 00:13:16,320 Speaker 5: came in and just like swooped us up, and you 256 00:13:16,480 --> 00:13:21,360 Speaker 5: have been our saviors. So I appreciate it. But I mean, 257 00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:24,080 Speaker 5: I know how much he does too. He's just not 258 00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:24,920 Speaker 5: a big talker. 259 00:13:27,840 --> 00:13:30,160 Speaker 3: They met in high school, just like me and my wife. 260 00:13:30,920 --> 00:13:34,959 Speaker 3: They reconnected later in life. Steve became a stepfather to 261 00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:35,839 Speaker 3: Jeanette's kids. 262 00:13:36,800 --> 00:13:40,440 Speaker 5: There's not very many men that would do that, and 263 00:13:40,520 --> 00:13:42,040 Speaker 5: he's really good to my kids. 264 00:13:43,640 --> 00:13:47,160 Speaker 6: I'm thankful for that too. Sounds like you guys have 265 00:13:47,200 --> 00:13:48,200 Speaker 6: a really strong foundation. 266 00:13:49,320 --> 00:13:56,040 Speaker 5: Sometimes I'm just kinda definitely not perfect, but it's perfect 267 00:13:56,120 --> 00:13:56,480 Speaker 5: for us. 268 00:13:57,640 --> 00:14:01,880 Speaker 3: Here he was Steve with the girlfriend and kids of 269 00:14:01,920 --> 00:14:05,080 Speaker 3: his own. I wondered why he waited decades to call me. 270 00:14:05,720 --> 00:14:09,000 Speaker 3: Why hadn't you wanted answers before? What was standing in 271 00:14:09,040 --> 00:14:13,320 Speaker 3: his way? According to his own DNA, Steve was a 272 00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:16,040 Speaker 3: Brandyburg part of an other whole tribe of people. He 273 00:14:16,120 --> 00:14:19,000 Speaker 3: knew nothing about a group that had a serial killer 274 00:14:19,040 --> 00:14:21,800 Speaker 3: circle him like a buzzard. But before we get to 275 00:14:21,840 --> 00:14:23,920 Speaker 3: all that, I wanted to know what it was like 276 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:25,120 Speaker 3: to grow up as a Patterson. 277 00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:31,920 Speaker 4: It wasn't anything different thanybody else. Just rode bikes and 278 00:14:31,960 --> 00:14:33,880 Speaker 4: played baseball and just grew up on. 279 00:14:33,960 --> 00:14:36,400 Speaker 1: Them short stopping outfield. 280 00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:39,440 Speaker 3: Steve was raised in North Carolina by his mom, Mary 281 00:14:39,800 --> 00:14:42,120 Speaker 3: stab Bob, and he has a sister named Tammy. 282 00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:44,600 Speaker 1: Steve came in with some baby photos. 283 00:14:44,800 --> 00:14:47,280 Speaker 3: He's got this big head of blonde hair, and some 284 00:14:47,320 --> 00:14:50,320 Speaker 3: pictures even looks up my grandson. There's one where he's 285 00:14:50,400 --> 00:14:53,160 Speaker 3: laying on this fluffy carpet smiling right into the camera. 286 00:14:54,080 --> 00:14:55,440 Speaker 6: Do you remember when this photo was taken? 287 00:14:57,720 --> 00:14:59,160 Speaker 4: It was probably at Sears. 288 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:01,040 Speaker 1: We did the Seers. 289 00:15:01,160 --> 00:15:02,760 Speaker 4: I think that's a It wasn't old as me. 290 00:15:02,800 --> 00:15:05,480 Speaker 1: All town's southern thing. It's going to Seers to get 291 00:15:05,480 --> 00:15:06,240 Speaker 1: your pictures made. 292 00:15:06,920 --> 00:15:08,840 Speaker 5: It's like all the machiness right here. 293 00:15:08,880 --> 00:15:13,360 Speaker 3: Yeah, this crunch, this little crunchy scrunched up smile. In 294 00:15:13,440 --> 00:15:16,440 Speaker 3: high school, he's a pretty good student, straight a's for 295 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:19,040 Speaker 3: the most part. His parents raised him good. 296 00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:25,440 Speaker 4: Don't lie don't steal. Definitely, don't steal. Definitely, don't steal. 297 00:15:25,480 --> 00:15:26,440 Speaker 4: There were a big time into that. 298 00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:27,360 Speaker 2: Well. 299 00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:30,520 Speaker 4: I didn't steal anything, but I guess because I listened 300 00:15:30,520 --> 00:15:33,960 Speaker 4: to him. Be on time, be early. 301 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:38,040 Speaker 3: He took eight Stephen Jeanett were about thirty minutes early 302 00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:46,200 Speaker 3: to our meeting. Growing up, Steve really looked up to 303 00:15:46,200 --> 00:15:48,160 Speaker 3: his dad, Bob, my dad. 304 00:15:48,160 --> 00:15:51,840 Speaker 4: He worked a lot. He worked out of town. He'd 305 00:15:51,880 --> 00:15:54,680 Speaker 4: be gone, you know, weeks at a time. And sometimes 306 00:15:55,400 --> 00:15:57,320 Speaker 4: when he worked in Raleigh, we'd go up there and 307 00:15:57,360 --> 00:15:59,880 Speaker 4: he ran a house and we'd all stay there for 308 00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:03,440 Speaker 4: weeks of time. He was a construction worker, a meal wright. 309 00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:07,120 Speaker 1: Growing up, no one ever talked about Steve's adoption. 310 00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:09,200 Speaker 4: I didn't know for sure, but I knew in the 311 00:16:09,200 --> 00:16:13,200 Speaker 4: back of my mind. I mean, it was never brought up. Never. 312 00:16:14,280 --> 00:16:16,960 Speaker 3: Then there was this one important day. He was a 313 00:16:16,960 --> 00:16:22,600 Speaker 3: teenager by then, and he was prowling around in his parents' bedroom. 314 00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:25,520 Speaker 4: I was running through the closet one day, just just 315 00:16:25,560 --> 00:16:30,040 Speaker 4: sleeping around, looking for guns, probably to go out shoot. 316 00:16:30,640 --> 00:16:34,560 Speaker 4: Was nobody there, and I found this packet, this manilla envelope, 317 00:16:34,720 --> 00:16:37,880 Speaker 4: and it had it had that I was adopted. 318 00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:40,320 Speaker 1: He had to open the envelope to see. 319 00:16:40,880 --> 00:16:44,120 Speaker 4: No, it was writing inside that said that. It said 320 00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:46,560 Speaker 4: that was adopted and I had my real name. My 321 00:16:46,640 --> 00:16:51,000 Speaker 4: name was Philip Stephen Brandenburg. And I read it that 322 00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:55,400 Speaker 4: day and didn't think about it until all this came out. 323 00:16:55,840 --> 00:16:58,640 Speaker 4: I mean, it never dawned on Melbourne. I wasn't interested 324 00:16:58,680 --> 00:17:03,320 Speaker 4: in finding then you know, here's Kate again. 325 00:17:03,800 --> 00:17:05,359 Speaker 5: And did you feel if you're holding a secret in 326 00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:07,320 Speaker 5: after you found out? 327 00:17:08,280 --> 00:17:09,320 Speaker 4: Just one? In my life? 328 00:17:10,440 --> 00:17:13,400 Speaker 3: Steve didn't confront Mary and Bob. He just tucked away 329 00:17:13,400 --> 00:17:13,880 Speaker 3: the m blow. 330 00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:14,480 Speaker 2: Now. 331 00:17:14,520 --> 00:17:16,280 Speaker 4: I didn't want to upset my mom and dad asking 332 00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:19,840 Speaker 4: him who my real mom and dad is, because I 333 00:17:19,840 --> 00:17:21,520 Speaker 4: thought maybe that would upset them, you know what I mean. 334 00:17:22,119 --> 00:17:23,960 Speaker 4: I didn't want to undermine them. 335 00:17:24,280 --> 00:17:26,240 Speaker 1: He was worried that had been salted. 336 00:17:26,640 --> 00:17:29,920 Speaker 4: I didn't want to roughly feathered hurt any feelings, if 337 00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:30,560 Speaker 4: that makes sense. 338 00:17:31,359 --> 00:17:33,679 Speaker 3: But as he settled in the middle age, it was 339 00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:36,160 Speaker 3: harder and harder to keep the Manila and bloke tucked away. 340 00:17:37,040 --> 00:17:39,919 Speaker 3: Life started to creep up on him. I know that feeling. 341 00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:43,480 Speaker 3: You start to enter your forties and fifties and there 342 00:17:43,480 --> 00:17:46,440 Speaker 3: are these questions you start to have about your own life. 343 00:17:46,880 --> 00:17:48,679 Speaker 3: Who you are where you came from. 344 00:17:49,640 --> 00:17:52,680 Speaker 4: Maybe it was now that I'm older, I'd like to 345 00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:54,960 Speaker 4: find out who I am. I kind of want to 346 00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:59,040 Speaker 4: know who my mom and dad were to see, you know, 347 00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:05,160 Speaker 4: for health reasons, for personality reasons, just to find out 348 00:18:05,160 --> 00:18:06,040 Speaker 4: where I came from. 349 00:18:07,160 --> 00:18:09,160 Speaker 3: And then he came face to face with it when 350 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:13,560 Speaker 3: the only father he had ever known died. Now, I'm 351 00:18:13,560 --> 00:18:16,199 Speaker 3: not entirely sure why things were this way, but my 352 00:18:16,320 --> 00:18:19,679 Speaker 3: guess is it's equal parts Bob and Steve. Steve's not 353 00:18:19,720 --> 00:18:22,399 Speaker 3: the kind of guy to push for answers. Maybe Bob 354 00:18:22,440 --> 00:18:25,480 Speaker 3: didn't want him to ask. It's not like Steve's a stranger. 355 00:18:25,480 --> 00:18:27,720 Speaker 3: When the family raised him, he sees it's mom Mary 356 00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:31,280 Speaker 3: a Ton. Jeanette considers her as her own mama. They're 357 00:18:31,320 --> 00:18:31,959 Speaker 3: that close. 358 00:18:32,720 --> 00:18:35,399 Speaker 5: Mary is just as much my mom as you know, 359 00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:38,720 Speaker 5: I lost my mom about seven years ago, and so 360 00:18:40,040 --> 00:18:44,240 Speaker 5: having Mary in my life, I definitely think that you 361 00:18:44,320 --> 00:18:46,800 Speaker 5: choose your family. I don't think you're born into it. 362 00:18:47,720 --> 00:18:50,840 Speaker 3: She and Steve had been learning about Steve's past. Jeanette's 363 00:18:50,840 --> 00:18:53,000 Speaker 3: been like a little family carrier pigeon. 364 00:18:53,920 --> 00:18:56,120 Speaker 5: I feel like I'm kind of the go between between 365 00:18:56,200 --> 00:19:00,000 Speaker 5: him and his mom. So he asked me the question, 366 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:03,560 Speaker 5: and she answers, and then I just kind of relay 367 00:19:03,640 --> 00:19:06,280 Speaker 5: back and forth on everything, not just the story. 368 00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:09,159 Speaker 3: When I sit down with Steve and his family to 369 00:19:09,160 --> 00:19:11,760 Speaker 3: ask questions about his past, they were so open to me, 370 00:19:11,880 --> 00:19:15,040 Speaker 3: so matter of fact. Maybe because I'm a stranger. This 371 00:19:15,080 --> 00:19:17,360 Speaker 3: wouldn't be the first time or last time I'd encountered 372 00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:19,639 Speaker 3: this a family that was so open to tell me 373 00:19:19,680 --> 00:19:22,479 Speaker 3: secrets that they couldn't tell each other. So around here 374 00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:24,200 Speaker 3: in the South, there are some things you just don't 375 00:19:24,200 --> 00:19:27,800 Speaker 3: talk about, some things you don't question, not out loud anyway. 376 00:19:28,520 --> 00:19:31,280 Speaker 1: I think Steve's origin story is one of them. Or 377 00:19:31,520 --> 00:19:35,280 Speaker 1: was things changed when Steve's dad died. 378 00:19:39,480 --> 00:19:41,560 Speaker 5: I think if his died hide and passed away, then 379 00:19:41,600 --> 00:19:43,800 Speaker 5: he wouldn't it wouldn't have even come up. 380 00:19:44,760 --> 00:19:47,320 Speaker 3: I could see how Steve and Jeanette get along. They're 381 00:19:47,359 --> 00:19:50,040 Speaker 3: both as sweet as can be, but they're also kind 382 00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:54,240 Speaker 3: of opposites. Steve's more reserved on Jeanette pushes for answers. 383 00:19:54,680 --> 00:19:57,720 Speaker 3: She's a little more assertive. Put it this way, Steve 384 00:19:57,720 --> 00:19:59,960 Speaker 3: didn't have the gumption to ask his mom about his adoption. 385 00:20:00,880 --> 00:20:04,439 Speaker 3: He sure didn't mind of Jeanette. Then the way Stephen 386 00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:06,960 Speaker 3: Jeanette remembering they were all hanging out of his family 387 00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:10,040 Speaker 3: after the funeral. They were at a church. Here in 388 00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:12,040 Speaker 3: the South, you either do the funeral at the church 389 00:20:12,280 --> 00:20:14,800 Speaker 3: or go to the church afterwards for a meal. It's 390 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:17,480 Speaker 3: never super fancy, but you go to spend the time 391 00:20:17,480 --> 00:20:19,560 Speaker 3: with the loved ones and begin a new life with 392 00:20:19,680 --> 00:20:23,840 Speaker 3: someone missing from it. They're all hanging out eating chicken, 393 00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:27,600 Speaker 3: pop pie, green beans, veggies. When Jeanette brought it up, and. 394 00:20:27,560 --> 00:20:30,080 Speaker 5: We were just talking in general, and I just said, 395 00:20:30,280 --> 00:20:33,800 Speaker 5: you know, Steve is a little curious about who his 396 00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:34,840 Speaker 5: birth parents are. 397 00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:39,119 Speaker 3: And his mother Mary took a moment, collected herself and 398 00:20:39,160 --> 00:20:41,639 Speaker 3: said something she had known for half a century but 399 00:20:41,760 --> 00:20:42,760 Speaker 3: never said out loud. 400 00:20:43,280 --> 00:20:46,640 Speaker 6: My husband said he's ours to leave it alone. That's 401 00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:50,200 Speaker 6: the way he felt about it. And after he died, 402 00:20:50,680 --> 00:20:52,800 Speaker 6: did not watch Steve. Do you want to know the truth? 403 00:20:53,600 --> 00:20:55,639 Speaker 6: Jeanette said, yeah, he's been waiting to hear the truth. 404 00:20:58,840 --> 00:21:00,000 Speaker 4: What did she tell you? 405 00:21:00,880 --> 00:21:06,160 Speaker 5: My name, which was the Phillip Stephen Brandenburg, And at 406 00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:09,679 Speaker 5: that time she didn't give me anything else. Really, it 407 00:21:09,840 --> 00:21:13,960 Speaker 5: was just a name, and that's what we started with. 408 00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:17,639 Speaker 3: She didn't have a ton of emotion when she said it, 409 00:21:17,960 --> 00:21:21,280 Speaker 3: She just said it. It came out so easy, as 410 00:21:21,280 --> 00:21:23,760 Speaker 3: if Mary had been waiting all alone to tell Steve 411 00:21:25,240 --> 00:21:28,919 Speaker 3: his real name was Philip Stephen Brandenburgh. I think it 412 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:32,680 Speaker 3: was a combination of three things that day. One Mary 413 00:21:32,760 --> 00:21:35,440 Speaker 3: was realizing she had a new normal now, one without 414 00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:41,480 Speaker 3: her husband Bob. Two steve simmering curiosity, and three Jeanette's bravery. 415 00:21:42,320 --> 00:21:44,920 Speaker 3: Three people all had to be at this particular place 416 00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:48,680 Speaker 3: in their lives to finally have this conversation almost half 417 00:21:48,680 --> 00:21:54,960 Speaker 3: a century later. Nobody at the funeral knew what was 418 00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:56,840 Speaker 3: coming next, certainly not Mary. 419 00:21:57,600 --> 00:22:00,760 Speaker 5: I'm not sure that she knew that all of this 420 00:22:02,320 --> 00:22:04,879 Speaker 5: big story, you know, was going to come out of this. 421 00:22:05,600 --> 00:22:07,359 Speaker 4: I don't think so. 422 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:10,119 Speaker 3: But later that night, Steve finally did the thing he 423 00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:12,919 Speaker 3: could have done years ago. He got on his phone 424 00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:15,080 Speaker 3: and googled his original name, and. 425 00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:17,400 Speaker 4: That's when the bomb exploded. 426 00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:20,560 Speaker 3: And just like that, he found his own page on 427 00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:23,480 Speaker 3: the Dough Network, posted online by a group of citizens 428 00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:27,960 Speaker 3: sleuth volunteers. That page lifts him a baby as missing, 429 00:22:27,960 --> 00:22:32,120 Speaker 3: it endangered, maybe dead. It had become clear at one 430 00:22:32,160 --> 00:22:35,120 Speaker 3: point in his life, very early on, Steve was at 431 00:22:35,119 --> 00:22:37,359 Speaker 3: a fork in the road. Of course, he didn't know 432 00:22:37,400 --> 00:22:40,440 Speaker 3: it was a fork. He was only a baby. Mary 433 00:22:40,480 --> 00:22:42,399 Speaker 3: had been through a lot by the time she met Steve. 434 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:46,640 Speaker 3: As it turns out, so it a the first time 435 00:22:46,720 --> 00:22:48,880 Speaker 3: she saw and Mary decided to take Steve home right 436 00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:53,800 Speaker 3: then and there. That's next the story of Steve's unusual adoption. 437 00:22:56,400 --> 00:22:59,879 Speaker 3: Mary Patterson is tougher than woodpick her lips. She's super gruff. 438 00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:02,760 Speaker 3: Sometimes i'd ask her a question, she'd just look at me, like, 439 00:23:02,960 --> 00:23:05,840 Speaker 3: are you sure you want to ask me that. Nowadays 440 00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:08,240 Speaker 3: she drives a school bus in North Carolina, and I 441 00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:10,440 Speaker 3: gotta say, I'd hate to be the kid that pissed 442 00:23:10,480 --> 00:23:13,280 Speaker 3: her off. You kind of have to work for Mary's love. 443 00:23:13,720 --> 00:23:16,200 Speaker 3: But once you got it, you got it. The first 444 00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:18,200 Speaker 3: thing she told us that she was married almost fifty 445 00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:21,000 Speaker 3: years to Bob Patterson. They met on a blind date. 446 00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:26,200 Speaker 6: Double date. No, that's been too long ago, as almost 447 00:23:26,240 --> 00:23:27,600 Speaker 6: fifty years ago. 448 00:23:28,080 --> 00:23:29,879 Speaker 3: Like I said, she'll tell you when she thinks it's 449 00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:33,719 Speaker 3: a silly question. In nineteen seventy four, she was pregnant 450 00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:39,480 Speaker 3: with a girl, Mary Michelle, but she lost the baby. 451 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:42,120 Speaker 3: It was the second time a baby of hers had died. 452 00:23:42,200 --> 00:23:43,560 Speaker 3: Right after they were born. 453 00:23:44,359 --> 00:23:45,720 Speaker 6: Five and a half months. As far as I could 454 00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:48,000 Speaker 6: go with these, one of they were born alive, one 455 00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:50,520 Speaker 6: lived three hours, one lived to hoower. That must have 456 00:23:50,520 --> 00:23:52,719 Speaker 6: been really hard for you, it was, And I've got 457 00:23:52,760 --> 00:23:55,960 Speaker 6: to see the want of the doctress. Wouldn't let me see. 458 00:23:58,080 --> 00:24:00,880 Speaker 3: Her health and well being, particularly or somebody just lost 459 00:24:00,880 --> 00:24:04,560 Speaker 3: a baby, was dismissed outright. No one ever asked her 460 00:24:04,560 --> 00:24:07,600 Speaker 3: what she needed in that moment. As you can imagine, 461 00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:10,639 Speaker 3: it was an emotionally painful experience. It reminds me a 462 00:24:10,640 --> 00:24:12,919 Speaker 3: lot of my mom and her experience with my siblings 463 00:24:12,960 --> 00:24:15,520 Speaker 3: who died much too soon. It's the kind of thing 464 00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:16,520 Speaker 3: that just doesn't leave you. 465 00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:17,760 Speaker 1: You live with it. 466 00:24:18,760 --> 00:24:21,639 Speaker 6: My daughter said he'd be best fight in Sel, and 467 00:24:21,720 --> 00:24:24,399 Speaker 6: I think that's wrong. That is wrong. 468 00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:28,760 Speaker 3: When she was at the hospital, she recognized somebody she knew, 469 00:24:29,359 --> 00:24:32,040 Speaker 3: Sandy Brandenburgh, who said a few missions away from her 470 00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:37,760 Speaker 3: at the garment factory, Mary was a seamstress third in 471 00:24:37,800 --> 00:24:41,240 Speaker 3: nineteen seventy four. Both women were pregnant at the same time. 472 00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:45,480 Speaker 6: She was a beautiful woman when she was young, beautiful, 473 00:24:45,560 --> 00:24:48,840 Speaker 6: little short, peteep little lady. Oh, she was beautiful. 474 00:24:49,560 --> 00:24:52,679 Speaker 1: You wouldn't say they were friends, but they chatted like coworkers. 475 00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:57,679 Speaker 6: I wasn't wild, but she was. She liked mem and 476 00:24:57,800 --> 00:25:02,320 Speaker 6: drugs and now call. She wasn't in that scene. I 477 00:25:02,320 --> 00:25:05,440 Speaker 6: ain't never smoke that, I don't drink. I try not 478 00:25:05,480 --> 00:25:07,160 Speaker 6: to cuss, but sometimes it comes out. 479 00:25:08,040 --> 00:25:11,080 Speaker 3: This wasn't really a coincidence. Running into someone you knew 480 00:25:11,119 --> 00:25:14,359 Speaker 3: in a small North Carolina town in the seventies. Mary 481 00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:17,440 Speaker 3: recognized her, but wasn't really in a state to engage. 482 00:25:18,119 --> 00:25:21,520 Speaker 3: She'd just lost her baby, plus, she says, she'd been 483 00:25:21,560 --> 00:25:25,399 Speaker 3: heavily medicated. As far as she remembers, she didn't even 484 00:25:25,440 --> 00:25:28,920 Speaker 3: talk to Sandy in the hospital. After that, Mary says 485 00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:30,919 Speaker 3: she went on with her life, went on to her 486 00:25:31,040 --> 00:25:33,800 Speaker 3: husband and a two bedroom, single wide trailer where they lived. 487 00:25:34,240 --> 00:25:38,120 Speaker 3: She tried to recover. Then about six weeks later, one 488 00:25:38,160 --> 00:25:41,480 Speaker 3: of her friends read a LORI call. She also knew Sandy, 489 00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:44,479 Speaker 3: and said Sandy needed help. She needed someone to come 490 00:25:44,560 --> 00:25:47,320 Speaker 3: and adopt her children. She couldn't take care of them. 491 00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:51,120 Speaker 3: Rita since passed away, so I couldn't confirm it with her. 492 00:25:52,119 --> 00:25:55,240 Speaker 3: This is how Mary remembers it. It's been fifty years, 493 00:25:55,359 --> 00:25:56,840 Speaker 3: so you might want to take it with a grain 494 00:25:56,920 --> 00:26:02,240 Speaker 3: of salt or a spoonful of sugar. What Mary remembers 495 00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:04,239 Speaker 3: is that she showed up to a trailer park with 496 00:26:04,240 --> 00:26:07,280 Speaker 3: her husband Bob, and saw these four little kids. The 497 00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:10,000 Speaker 3: youngest was six weeks old, The oldest might have been 498 00:26:10,040 --> 00:26:10,840 Speaker 3: in kindergarten. 499 00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:13,760 Speaker 1: Mary wasn't really prepared for what she saw next. 500 00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:17,000 Speaker 6: That had never been potty trained, None of them had. 501 00:26:17,640 --> 00:26:22,360 Speaker 6: When I went in that trailer, there was feces all 502 00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:24,760 Speaker 6: over the place. They just peed wherever they wanted to 503 00:26:24,800 --> 00:26:30,480 Speaker 6: pee because she hadn't trained them. They were kind did 504 00:26:30,520 --> 00:26:33,520 Speaker 6: go from trailer trailer baging for food every day, and 505 00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:37,200 Speaker 6: that's said. She wanted me to take all four of them, 506 00:26:37,240 --> 00:26:39,480 Speaker 6: and I wouldn't tell them. I couldn't because I didn't 507 00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:40,520 Speaker 6: have a two bedroom trail. 508 00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:44,880 Speaker 3: But her eyes were fixed on the infant Philip Stephen Brandenburgen. 509 00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:48,080 Speaker 6: If you'd have seen him, you'd morna know, you'd know one. 510 00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:52,119 Speaker 6: He was pitiful, maggot's in his pants and his diaper 511 00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:57,199 Speaker 6: was stuck slammed to him. Bob's grandma, maul Mary Quinn 512 00:26:58,240 --> 00:27:01,040 Speaker 6: stood over him and washed him, and tears running all 513 00:27:01,160 --> 00:27:03,680 Speaker 6: down her on him. She said, this bitch ought to 514 00:27:03,760 --> 00:27:04,320 Speaker 6: be killed. 515 00:27:05,880 --> 00:27:08,960 Speaker 3: It was a horrifying situation. She walked out of the 516 00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:11,920 Speaker 3: trailer with Steve and tried to nurse him back to Hell. 517 00:27:18,680 --> 00:27:21,800 Speaker 3: Months later, Mary said that Sandy needed to sign paperwork 518 00:27:21,840 --> 00:27:24,960 Speaker 3: saying she was given Steve away. Mary and Bob broke 519 00:27:24,960 --> 00:27:27,800 Speaker 3: the law by taking him back. Then in North Carolina, 520 00:27:27,960 --> 00:27:29,920 Speaker 3: there was a rule that babies had to be adopted 521 00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:33,080 Speaker 3: into a different county than they were born. He created 522 00:27:33,080 --> 00:27:36,000 Speaker 3: a separation between birth families and the folks who adopted 523 00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:39,320 Speaker 3: a child. Mary kept him a secret for two years 524 00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:40,720 Speaker 3: and then went before the court. 525 00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:44,119 Speaker 6: We went through Gaston County and they came in, checked 526 00:27:44,119 --> 00:27:47,880 Speaker 6: house out and qualified us, and we adopted him. 527 00:27:48,680 --> 00:27:51,959 Speaker 3: And after that life went on. She raised Steve and 528 00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:54,760 Speaker 3: finally had the child she had been longing for. You 529 00:27:54,760 --> 00:27:57,359 Speaker 3: can tell by the way she talks about Steve. She's 530 00:27:57,440 --> 00:27:59,040 Speaker 3: just crazy about him. 531 00:28:00,119 --> 00:28:04,960 Speaker 6: Chose him. If he hadn't been born, I wouldn't have 532 00:28:04,960 --> 00:28:08,480 Speaker 6: got him. I couldn't love him anymore if he is 533 00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:13,320 Speaker 6: mine or not. Just love him is all you can do. 534 00:28:13,359 --> 00:28:15,600 Speaker 3: They live real close to each other, talk on the 535 00:28:15,640 --> 00:28:18,680 Speaker 3: phone and text all the time. As Steve grow older, 536 00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:21,560 Speaker 3: she never brought up the adoption, not because of the 537 00:28:21,640 --> 00:28:24,640 Speaker 3: rough condition of the trailer park, or even her own pregnancies, 538 00:28:24,920 --> 00:28:29,240 Speaker 3: but because he just never asked. Instead, she focused on 539 00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:31,560 Speaker 3: giving Steve the best life he could possibly have. 540 00:28:32,520 --> 00:28:35,320 Speaker 6: He had them hard metal, tonk of toys and all 541 00:28:35,400 --> 00:28:38,959 Speaker 6: them good ones, roach scrapers and all kind of toys. 542 00:28:39,320 --> 00:28:41,720 Speaker 6: We took him to all kinds of museums while he's 543 00:28:41,720 --> 00:28:44,040 Speaker 6: growing up. If my husband was working in Raleigh, we 544 00:28:44,080 --> 00:28:45,640 Speaker 6: went to every museum down there. 545 00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:50,320 Speaker 1: After she picked up Steve, Mary never saw Sandy again. 546 00:28:51,120 --> 00:28:53,600 Speaker 6: I don't think she even you realized she had given 547 00:28:53,600 --> 00:28:56,520 Speaker 6: them to me. I really don't, because she was out 548 00:28:56,560 --> 00:28:57,560 Speaker 6: there and law Alan. 549 00:28:58,440 --> 00:29:01,680 Speaker 3: She suspects Sandy was drinking and on drugs. But Mary 550 00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:07,680 Speaker 3: I also knew something Steve didn't. She knew Sandy, and 551 00:29:07,720 --> 00:29:10,800 Speaker 3: based on her experience, Mary wasn't sure if Sandy would 552 00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:11,960 Speaker 3: even be a comfort to Steve. 553 00:29:12,560 --> 00:29:15,120 Speaker 1: He wanted answers and she might not have him. 554 00:29:15,640 --> 00:29:18,360 Speaker 6: I don't think she really remembers, be honest with you, 555 00:29:18,360 --> 00:29:19,920 Speaker 6: I don't think she remembers what went on. 556 00:29:20,960 --> 00:29:23,360 Speaker 3: In her own way, Mary might have wanted to protect 557 00:29:23,400 --> 00:29:25,840 Speaker 3: Steve from the heartbreak that might come from knowing. 558 00:29:25,640 --> 00:29:26,280 Speaker 1: His own mother. 559 00:29:27,240 --> 00:29:29,600 Speaker 3: There was a million ways that Sandy might break his heart. 560 00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:33,160 Speaker 3: So while Mary knew all along about Sandy, she said nothing. 561 00:29:34,320 --> 00:29:37,360 Speaker 5: So all these years later, like, how do you feel 562 00:29:37,360 --> 00:29:38,000 Speaker 5: about this woman? 563 00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:43,160 Speaker 6: I don't hate her. God says forgive and forget, you know, 564 00:29:44,160 --> 00:29:45,480 Speaker 6: and she brought him into my love. 565 00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:46,320 Speaker 4: So be it. 566 00:29:47,840 --> 00:29:47,920 Speaker 2: What. 567 00:29:48,040 --> 00:29:51,880 Speaker 3: Steve didn't know his biological mom and sisters were all living. 568 00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:55,200 Speaker 3: Just one stayed over about six hours by car a 569 00:29:55,280 --> 00:29:58,120 Speaker 3: day trip. I had to understand her side of the story, 570 00:29:58,360 --> 00:30:01,200 Speaker 3: how she'd come into this weird adopt and if she 571 00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:10,200 Speaker 3: ever looked for her son again. Once Stephen Janette started 572 00:30:10,240 --> 00:30:13,800 Speaker 3: learning about Steve's past, it was hard to stop. That's 573 00:30:13,840 --> 00:30:16,880 Speaker 3: the nature of Internet rabbit holes. There's always one more 574 00:30:16,920 --> 00:30:22,520 Speaker 3: thing to read. In their searches, Stephen Janette realized Steve 575 00:30:22,560 --> 00:30:26,280 Speaker 3: had siblings, siblings whose fate were much worse than Steve's. 576 00:30:26,720 --> 00:30:28,240 Speaker 3: Some of them are forced to go on the run, 577 00:30:28,920 --> 00:30:31,480 Speaker 3: changed their names. Some of the end up being raised 578 00:30:31,480 --> 00:30:34,040 Speaker 3: by their mother, and others would never see her again. 579 00:30:34,800 --> 00:30:36,680 Speaker 3: And there was one name that kept showing up in 580 00:30:36,720 --> 00:30:40,840 Speaker 3: their search. Franklin Floyd, the man sitting on death row 581 00:30:40,840 --> 00:30:45,400 Speaker 3: into Florida prison. He was the serial killer. Floyd was 582 00:30:45,440 --> 00:30:47,280 Speaker 3: a man I contact you back in two thousand and 583 00:30:47,360 --> 00:30:50,800 Speaker 3: four when I was looking for Steve Stephen Jeanette didn't 584 00:30:50,840 --> 00:30:53,280 Speaker 3: understand how, but Floyd was linked to the family in 585 00:30:53,320 --> 00:30:56,280 Speaker 3: some way. Google just kept suggesting his name. 586 00:30:57,080 --> 00:31:01,040 Speaker 5: It was just kind of unbelievable, like like we didn't 587 00:31:01,040 --> 00:31:04,160 Speaker 5: even know. I don't there were really not even words. 588 00:31:04,280 --> 00:31:08,040 Speaker 5: It was just like shock and confusion. I guess a 589 00:31:08,120 --> 00:31:14,800 Speaker 5: little confused worried, you know, because I didn't know what 590 00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:16,840 Speaker 5: all he was about to start going through. 591 00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:21,200 Speaker 6: But it worried me. 592 00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:21,720 Speaker 4: A little bit. 593 00:31:24,680 --> 00:31:26,720 Speaker 3: It was enough that Steve found out he was adopted 594 00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:30,160 Speaker 3: in his original family for strangers doing it was another 595 00:31:30,240 --> 00:31:33,240 Speaker 3: thing that he found his own missing person's page, but 596 00:31:33,320 --> 00:31:36,240 Speaker 3: to be linked to a serial killer, it was. 597 00:31:36,200 --> 00:31:37,040 Speaker 6: A very big deal. 598 00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:39,840 Speaker 5: You know, you're adopted and you think you're going to 599 00:31:39,880 --> 00:31:43,480 Speaker 5: find your parents. You don't think you're going to have 600 00:31:43,920 --> 00:31:47,920 Speaker 5: all this that comes along with it. It was emotional. 601 00:31:48,040 --> 00:31:49,520 Speaker 5: I'm emotional anyway, so. 602 00:31:51,680 --> 00:31:52,720 Speaker 6: Yes, I can't help it. 603 00:31:54,200 --> 00:31:58,880 Speaker 5: But I was very worried, because you know, it changes 604 00:31:58,880 --> 00:32:02,960 Speaker 5: a person when you find out so many crazy things. 605 00:32:04,520 --> 00:32:07,600 Speaker 3: This killer, Franklin Floyd didn't just cross past with the 606 00:32:07,640 --> 00:32:10,160 Speaker 3: family for the blink of an eye. It was longer 607 00:32:10,200 --> 00:32:14,920 Speaker 3: than that. He was married to Sandy Brandenburg, Steve's original mother. 608 00:32:16,840 --> 00:32:18,760 Speaker 3: Next time on Hello John Doe. 609 00:32:19,640 --> 00:32:22,360 Speaker 7: So, I was in Charlotte and that's where I met 610 00:32:22,760 --> 00:32:27,360 Speaker 7: Franklin Floyd, but I knew him as Brandon Williams. And 611 00:32:27,440 --> 00:32:30,760 Speaker 7: he said that he would help me get the kids. 612 00:32:31,240 --> 00:32:33,240 Speaker 7: He would go with me to get the kids, and 613 00:32:33,320 --> 00:32:36,680 Speaker 7: everything would be all right. Now that I look back, 614 00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:40,320 Speaker 7: I was so stupid and so naive. 615 00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:42,120 Speaker 4: He's creepy. 616 00:32:42,280 --> 00:32:46,080 Speaker 7: He was always creepy. 617 00:32:49,040 --> 00:32:52,280 Speaker 3: Hello John Doe is an original productions by Revelations Entertainment 618 00:32:52,440 --> 00:32:56,400 Speaker 3: in association with First and Last Productions from Revelations. Our 619 00:32:56,440 --> 00:33:00,440 Speaker 3: executive producers are Morgan Freeman and James Younger. From First 620 00:33:00,520 --> 00:33:04,400 Speaker 3: to Last. Lindsay Moreno is the executive producer. Our producing 621 00:33:04,520 --> 00:33:06,960 Speaker 3: partner is Neo on Hume Media. It was written and 622 00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:10,280 Speaker 3: produced by Kate Michigan. Our editor is Katherine Saint Louis. 623 00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:13,600 Speaker 3: She is also nil on Home Media's executive editor. Our 624 00:33:13,640 --> 00:33:17,800 Speaker 3: executive producer is Sharah Morris. Our development producer is Ian Lindsay. 625 00:33:18,400 --> 00:33:23,040 Speaker 3: Our associate producer is Rufaro Faith Maserua. Sound design and 626 00:33:23,080 --> 00:33:26,400 Speaker 3: mixing by Scott Summerville. Theme and original music composed by 627 00:33:26,480 --> 00:33:30,040 Speaker 3: Jesse Pearlstein. Additional music came from Epidemic Sound and Blue 628 00:33:30,080 --> 00:33:33,760 Speaker 3: Dot Sessions. Frendall Faulton is our fact checker. Our production 629 00:33:33,880 --> 00:33:37,440 Speaker 3: manager is Samantha Allison from my Heart Media. Dylan Fagan 630 00:33:37,560 --> 00:33:38,680 Speaker 3: is our executive producer. 631 00:33:39,240 --> 00:33:40,120 Speaker 1: Special thanks to. 632 00:33:40,040 --> 00:33:43,000 Speaker 3: Adelia Ruben at NEI on Hum and Carrie Lieberman and 633 00:33:43,040 --> 00:33:47,080 Speaker 3: Will Pearson at iHeartMedia. I'm Todd Matthews. You can learn 634 00:33:47,120 --> 00:33:49,960 Speaker 3: more about name us at NamUs dot com. The number 635 00:33:49,960 --> 00:33:52,680 Speaker 3: for the National Center for Missing Exploited Children's Call Center 636 00:33:52,800 --> 00:33:55,760 Speaker 3: is one eight hundredth the loss that's one eight hundred 637 00:33:56,000 --> 00:33:59,920 Speaker 3: eight four three five six seven eight. The National Section 638 00:34:00,200 --> 00:34:03,040 Speaker 3: Soil Potline from the Rate of Use and Incest National 639 00:34:03,080 --> 00:34:06,800 Speaker 3: Network is one eight hundred sixty five six four six 640 00:34:06,920 --> 00:34:10,240 Speaker 3: seventy three. Okay, guys, this is the end of the show. 641 00:34:10,520 --> 00:34:13,080 Speaker 3: If you didn't like it, don't do anything. But if 642 00:34:13,120 --> 00:34:15,040 Speaker 3: you did like it, you make sure that you rate 643 00:34:15,080 --> 00:34:17,359 Speaker 3: and review the show. It helps more people to find 644 00:34:17,360 --> 00:34:20,080 Speaker 3: it and hear this wonderful story. Thanks again for listening.